


Voltron: Another Outcome

by Secrelight



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: AU, Altean Lance (Voltron), Cyborg Shiro (Voltron), Galra Keith (Voltron), Multi, Original Character(s), klance, slowburn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-23
Updated: 2019-08-14
Packaged: 2020-03-10 01:29:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 12,205
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18928543
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Secrelight/pseuds/Secrelight
Summary: What do you get when three aliens, two partial aliens, a cyborg and a human go on space travels in giant space cats? Whatever the hell this is.Follow along as the paladins face death, reunite with loved ones, form new relationships both good and bad, all while fighting to defend the universe.{This will roughly follow the plot of Voltron: Legendary Defenders, but will have obvious differences}





	1. It Begins

**Author's Note:**

> This will be a long running series, I'll be covering the whole series, maybe cut out things, but adding in a lot so... happy reading.

-{9,925 years ago}-

“Run my prince!!” an Altean woman yelled as she tried her best to hold the door closed.

“What about you?!” the prince yelled back as he was being dragged towards an escape pod.

“We can hold them back, go!” an armed man yelled, swatting at them to hurry up.

“We can’t just leave them!” the prince yelled as he was being forced into the ship.

“My prince, you are the last of your family, you are the last hope for the Altean race to survive, we must go” his attendant insisted.

But the prince wasn’t going to abandon someone he knows he can help.

With a duck and a swerve, he escaped his attendants grasp and snatched a downed soldiers pistol.

“Prince Lance!!” the attendant yelled, running after him.

As the doors busted open, Galran soldiers poured in, shooting at everything they saw.

Lance managed to get behind a crate and provided cover fire for his soldiers, refusing to leave despite his attendants nagging.

But this was a battle they weren’t going to win, they were outnumbered, out gunned, and everyone knew it.

“Sire, you need to leave!” Lance’s attendant yelled.

“I refuse to leave my people!” Lance yelled as he managed to take down a third soldier, disarming another.

Suddenly, Lance was yanked up from the ground by two Alteans.

“What are you doing?” he demanded as they threw him into the ship.

Lance got back up and ran to the door just as it closed.

“Let me out! I demand you let me out!” he yelled in desperation.

“This ship is set to take you to an unmapped solar system, our scanners picked up a life supporting planet, this ship’s navigational system will get you there” his attendant informed, completely ignoring the prince’s protesting.

“NO! I won’t let you die for me! Let me out!” Lance yelled.

“Goodbye my prince” his attendant said before brandishing a sword and going back to fight.

Without any say of his own, Lance was then sent out into the cold vastness of space, but he wasn’t just going to accept this.

He had spent enough time around these kinds of ships to know how to work the navigational system, including how to reroute a pre-existing route.

He rushed to the pilot seat and began to attempt to activate manual control, but there was no luck, as if all manual systems related to the direction and control of the ship were shut down.

“No! No goddamnit!” Lance yelled as he punched the control panel over and over “Take me back!” he screamed, the faces of all the people he left behind flashing in his head “Take me back” he begged, tears pooling in his eyes.

First he lost his mother, then his home along with his father and sister, now he was losing the last of his people… the pain was unbearable, the pain of fear, suffering, sadness, but above all, the pain of being truly alone.

Suddenly an alert appeared on the ships monitor as Lance’s trajectory had led him directly into a meteor belt.

Ducking under the main control panel, he began to look at a few of the wires, trying to ignore the bumps and scrapes of colliding meteors. Scanning them, he was looking for a pink wire, the one a friend of his said was the only thing you needed to cut to go on an uninterrupted joyride.

Finding it, he grabbed it and yanked, immediately feeling the ship veer away from its straight line trajectory.

Fumbling back into the pilot seat, he grabbed a hold of the controls and proceeded to spin and dart in every which way to avoid being crushed or too damaged to fly.

The sheer number began to become too much and the next thing Lance knew, his ship was spinning out of control at blinding speeds.

When he finally managed to stop the spinning, he had all but a tick to see the large glacier he would crash into.

 

-{9,924 years later}-

“Easy son, this ice is delicate” Samuel advised as his son Matt carefully extracted the ice from the drill.

“Amazing… isn’t this exciting Shiro?” Matt asked as he stared in awe.

Shiro, who was holding the drill steady, just laughed a little “You guys get a little more excited about ice samples than I do” he said.

“This is history in the making, not only have we travelled any farther than any human ever has, but this Ice could hold microscopic clues about the existence of live outside earth” Samuel said calmly, but clearly gleeful.

“Think about it dad, we could use those clues to become the first people to meet aliens” Matt said whishfully.

“My life’s work would be complete” Samuel mused.

“Well, it’s still a little soon to go wishing to meet aliens” Shiro said with a chuckle.

“Just wait, if this all succeeds, we could even hold full conversations with one” Matt said as he has almost extracted all of the ice.

Suddenly, a burst of blue light shot up from the hole their drill had made, causing Matt to break the ice.

Thankfully, neither Shiro or Samuel could care as the two of them were too shocked my the strange light emitting from the ice.

Suddenly, the ground ice beneath them began to melt, forcing them all to move back and watch as the surface of the ice turned into water and then began to turn to vapor, left in its place, a small ship covered in dents and scrapes.

“Is this for real?” Matt asked, starting to get a little freaked out.

Shiro decided to take the initiative, sliding down into the newly formed crater, he approached the ship and wiped off the fog that obscured vision of the pilot.

Shocked, Shiro found a human inside.

His skin was tanned and his hair was pure white, at first making him think they might have been an old man, but upon further looking, he appeared to be around the same age as Matt if not younger.

“What is it?” Samuel asked from the top of the crater.

“It looks like a human” Shiro informed.

“It’s moving!” Matt yelled as he moved to go over to the ship too.

Sure enough, the person inside the ship had woken up, but they weren’t the least bit concerned with Shiro or the other two, instead, he was looking at something above them in absolute terror.

Looking back to Samuel, Shiro felt his whole body freeze as a large ship could be seen approaching them.

“What is that?” Samuel asked, his tone a mix of intrigue and fear.

“Run!” Shiro yelled.

Nobody moved.

“Come on run” he said as he ran past the trapped boy in the ship.

A large beam shot from the ship and sucked up the three humans, as well as the small ship.

<^><^><^><^>

Shiro awoke to horror at the sound of strange speak.

"Εμπερορ Ζαρκον, ωε ωερε σκουτινγ συστεμ Ξ9Υ ας ορδερεδ ω-εν ωε φουνδ θεσε πριμιτιυε σκιεντιστς, Ι δον'τ θινκ θευ κνοω ανυθινγ υσεφυλ" a humanoid creature spoke to what Shiro could assume was their boss.  
(Emperor Zarkon, we were scouting system X9Y as ordered when we found these primitive scientists, I don’t think they know anything useful)

“Τακε θεμ βακκ το θε μαιν φλεετ φορ ιντερρογατιον, θε δρυιδς ωιλλ φινδ ουτ ω-ατ θευ κνοω” the leader responded.  
(Take them back to the main fleet for interrogation, the druids will find out what they know)

Shiro was confused, he couldn’t understand a word they were saying, but he knew he had to attempt communication for their own safety.

“Please, we come from a peaceful planet, we mean you no harm, we’re unarmed” he tried but they just ignored him.

“Υου ωιλλ βε -αππυ το κνοω θατ θευ αλσο -αδ σομεονε ραθερ ιντερεστινγ ωιθ θεμ” the solder spoke.  
(You will be happy to know that they also had someone rather interesting with them)

“Ω-ο;” the leader questioned.  
(Who?)

Suddenly the boy Shiro had seen from the ship was shoved to the ground, covered in recent bruises.

“Ατ φιρστ ωε θουγ-τ -ε ωας ηυστ α ρεγυλαρ Αλτεαν, βυτ θις ις ακτυαλλυ-” he began, but was cut off.  
(At first we thought he was just a regular Altean, but this is actually-)

“Πρινκε Λανκε… ιντερεστινγ… σενδ -ιμ ωιθ θε οθερ θρεε, ιφ -ε -ας ανυθινγ υσεφυλ υου ωουλδ δο ωελλ το σενδ -ιμ διρεκτλυ το με” the leader said.  
(Prince Lance… interesting… send him with the other three, if he has anything useful you would do well to send him directly to me)

“Υες μυ λορδ, υρεπιτ σα” the solder said before the screen turned black.  
(Yes my lord, vrepit sa)

The soldier turned to the group holding Shiro and the others down.

“Υου -εαρδ Ζαρκον'ς ορδερς, τακε θεμ αωαυ” he commanded.  
(You heard Zarkon’s orders, take them away)

“Λετ γο οφ με υου ηερκς!” the boy yelled as he was violently grabbed by his hair.  
(Let go of me you jerks!)

Reacting instinctually, Shiro attempted to get up and attempt to help the poor boy, but was immediately hit over the head, falling to the floor.

What followed were moments of drifting in and out of consciousness, voices and growls of unrecognisable speech coming from all directions as he was dragged across the ground.

Then came the site that chilled him to the bone.

Dozens upon dozens of cells, all filled with creatures he could have never even dreamt of.

-{One year later}-

“Galaxy Garrison flight log 5-11-14, begin decent to Kerberos for rescue mission” a lazy and bored sounding voice announced before making the ship dip significantly.

“Hmm-blgh, Keith, can you not do that?” a large boy behind him requested.

“Oh relax, it’s not like I did a nosedive” Keith mumbled, clearly not entirely invested in his current task.

“Ah yes, because you wouldn’t EVER do that now would you?” a small boy said, his voice dripping in sarcasm.

Keith turned to the small one with an unamused look.

“Will you just keep an eye out for any unusual activity Pidge?” he suggested more than asked.

Silence fell over the three of them briefly before a small beep caught their attention.

“We’ve picked up a distress beacon” Pidge informed.

Flicking a few switches above his head Keith took in a breath.

“Alright, Pidge, track the coordinates” he ordered, his whole attitude turning serious.

“Copy” Pidge said before getting to work.

The whole ship began to shake.

“Keith, knock it off” Hunk complained.

“This time it’s on you, one of our hydraulic stabilisers are out” Keith informed.

Hunk looked at his screen and made a face before his stomache made a weird sound “Oh no” he mumbled.

“No, fix it, then puke” Keith scolded.

“I lost contact, the shaking is interfering with our sensors” Pidge informed.

“Hunk!” Keith yelled.

“It’s not responding” Hunk said as he got up from his chair.

A small bing sounded from Keith’s section and the location of the distress signal could be seen.

“There it is, prepare to approach” Keith said as he got ready to descend.

“I don’t think that’s advisable with our mechanical and…” Pidge said before glancing to the motion sick Hunk “Gastrointestinal issues” he mumbled.

“Agreed” Hunk said after swallowing back.

“Stop worrying, the site is in visual range, we can make it” Keith said calmly, “Pidge hail down on them and let them know their ride is here” he added.

Pidge realised their arms lacked the ability to reach the radio, so without thinking, he undid his seatbelt and stop on his chair.

He barely got a few words in begore the turbulence caused by the shaking flung Pidge to the side.

“What are you doing? Get back in your seat! And Hunk! Will you hurry it up?” Keith yelled, starting to get frustrated.

“I’m tra-ha-iy-hoo” Hunk started before ending with a puke.

Ignoring the gross scene next to him, Pidge picked up the radio.

“Attention lunar vessel, this is Galaxy Garrison rescue craft 1-Victor-6-3-Tango, coming in for landing and extraction” he said before glaring at Keith “Against crew recommendations” he spat.

“Not the time Pidge! We’re going in” Keith said, clearly not having any of what was happening.

“Look out for that overhang!” Pidge warned.

“Relax” Keith grumbled as he sped up.

Pidge and Hunk nervously held onto their seats as the narrow space approached.

And they cleared it… only to then scrape along the ground, coming to a crash landing and the whole ship going dark.

Silence fell over the three of them as they all groaned in annoyance.

“Simulation Failed” a computerized voice said as the lights came back on.

“Yea… I’m relaxed” Pidge spat, getting an annoyed grumble in response.

The back door opened to reveal their superior officer.

“Roll out donkeys” he ordered.

The three walked out of the simulator and lined up in front of the class.

“Well lets see if we cant use this complete failure as a lesson for the rest of you students, can anyone point out the mistakes three so called cadets made in the simulator?” he asked the class.

“The engineer puked in the main gear box” someone in the back said with a raised hand.

“Yes, as everyone knows vomit is NOT an approved lubricant for engine systems” he scolded Hunk for before turning back to the class “What else?” he asked.

“The com-spec removed his safety harness” one woman commented before another quickly followed.

“The pilot crashed!” the girl said quickly.

“Correct, and worst of all, the whole time they’re arguing with each other” he scolded directly at the three of them “Hell, if you’re gonna be this back individually, you gotta at least be able to work as a team!” he yelled before sighing “Galaxy Garrison exists to turn young cadets like you into the next generation of elite astro-explorers, but these kinds of mental mistakes are exactly what caused the lives of the men on the Kerberos mission” he finished.

“That’s not true sir” Pidge quickly said.

“What did you say?!” he yelled back.

“Sorry sir, I think he’s disoriented from the fall he had, he’ll be sure to be quiet now” Keith said, coming to Pidge’s rescue but also scolding him.

“I hope I don’t need to remind you that the only reason you haven’t been kicked out yet is the respect I had for Shiro, but that will only last so far, don’t let me catch you interrupting me again, do I make myself clear?” the officer scolded as he got up in Keith’s face.

Keith glared at him with daggers, every fibre of his being resisting the urge to punch this guy, or even a headbutt.

“I said, do I make myself clear!” he yelled.

“Crystal” Keith spoke through gritted teeth.

“Good, NEXT!” he yelled.


	2. The Arrival

Lights out had been called about five minutes ago, meaning Pidge had another three before the night time patrolmen would reach his room.

With a quick check down each hall, he snuck out of his room and snuck his way to the roof, successfully dodging a few senior cadets who had gotten permission to be out late.

The night air was cold, but not freezing, giving Pidge a nice atmosphere to listen to radio chatter.

It was a relatively peaceful moment despite his reasoning for doing so, however was interrupted when something tapped his shoulder, causing him to flail in sock.

“Oh, sorry, wasn’t sure if you could hear me” Hunk spoke worried, a sorry look on his usual jovial face.

“Oh… no it’s fine… I was just… not paying attention” Pidge managed to get out, trying to think up an excuse for their being out after lights out.

“What are you doing up here anyway?” Hunk asked, eyeing the machine Pidge had with them.

“Well… y’know… looking at… the stars” Pidge got out as a half baked excuse.

“Okay…” Hunk mused “But why are you really up here?” he asked skeptically.

“Why are you up here?” Pidge asked back.

“Well not that it’s relevant, but if you must know” Hunk said before he sighed “I was following Keith, he also snuck out, but when I lost track of him, I saw you, and since you aren’t a lost cause I came up here to bring you back before we’re both caught” he explained before noticing the equipment Pidge had set up “What is that? It doesn’t look like Garrison tech” he asked sceptically.

“Well of course, I built it” Pidge bragged a little.

“You built all this?” Hunk asked as he reached out only to have his hand swatted away.

“Yea… with this thing I can scan all the way to the edge of the solar system” Pidge informed rather proudly.

Hunk nodded in intrigue and fascination “Hmm… all the way to Kerberos?” he asked.

Pidge became visually nervous.

“Anytime anyone brings up Kerberos you usually freak out and go off at people” he mused as he inspected the tech.

Pidge slapped his hand again, this one with actual strength behind it “Second warning” he mumbled.

“Aww come on, Keith agrees with me y’know, we both think it’s pretty strange how you act, what is it about Kerberos that gets you so riled up?” Hunk inquired.

Pidge sighed “Look… the world as you know it is about to change, the Kerberos mission wasn’t lost because of some malfunction or crew mistake so I’ve been scanning the system… and I’ve been picking up alien radio chatter” he explained.

“Woah, wait, what?” Hunk asked, immediately more focused on that then the tech.

“They keep repeating this word, Voltron” he explained, holding up a notepad with the word and several sketches of warriors and weapons on it “And tonight, it’s busier than I have ever heard it”.

Hunk hummed “How crazy?” Hunk asked.

As if on cue, a siren started rattling through the air, announcing a lockdown and for all students to stay inside.

“What could that be for?” Pidge mumbled, looking back towards the Garrison main tower.

“Maybe something to do with that very… very, big meteor” Hunk said nervously, pointing at a glowing ball in the sky.

Pidge took out a pair of binoculars from their bag “It’s not a meteor, it’s a ship, and it’s definitely not one of ours” he informed.

“So wait, there really are aliens out there?” Hunk stammered as the two of them watched the ship fly past.

Hunk with a look of fear, while Pidge was smiling ear to ear.

As the ship crashed, several Garrison vehicles were powered up and started making their way over to the crash site.

Pidge quickly packed up their gear and shot up, a look of pure determination on his face “We’ve gotta see that ship” he said, taking off before Hunk even had a chance to object.

<^><^><^><^>

“Come on Pidge, we should go back, it doesn’t matter how much you want to see the ship or whatever was inside it, we’ll never make it past all those guards” Hunk said as he looked back at Pidge from his spot, having been using the binoculars to get a better look at the Garrison’s quickly formed facility.

“Don’t worry, they set up a camera in there and I grabbed it’s feed, look” Pidge said from their spot, having set their equipment back up, turning the screen slightly so Hunk could get a better look.

On the screen, there was a man strapped to a bed, saying strange things.

“Hey, what are you doing?” he asked.

“Calm down Shiro, we just need to keep you quarantined until we run some tests on you” one of the facility workers said.

But Shiro wasn’t complying.

“Listen to me, they destroy worlds, aliens are coming” he warned.

“Shiro? As in the guy from the Kerberos mission that our commander keeps bringing up to Keith?” Hunk mused “Guess he isn’t dead in space after all… can’t believe Keith is missing this” Hunk mumbled.

“But where’s the rest of the crew?” Pidge questioned, looking rather disgruntled.

“Do you know how long you’ve been gone?” the worker asked Shiro.

“I don’t know, months, years, look, there’s no time, aliens are coming here for a weapon, they’re probably already on their way, they’ll destroy us, we have to find Voltron” Shiro uselessly tried to reason.

“Voltron” Pidge repeated.

“Sir, take a look at this” one of the workers said as he examined Shiro’s arm “It appears his arm has been replaced by a cyborg prosthetic” he explained before lifting the pant leg of the same side “The same can be said for his leg, and one of his eyes and the ear… all on the same side” he added.

“Put him under until we know what that thing can do” the leader of the lab said as he readied the anaesthesia.

“No, no, you can’t put me under! No! No, there’s no time! Let me go!” Shiro begged, but it was all in vain.

“They didn’t even ask about the other crew members” Pidge said disappointedly.

“They aren’t even willing to listen to him” Hunk said, feeling sorry for the poor guy.

“We have to get him out” Pidge said determined.

“Ah, I hate to be your voice of reason, as always, but weren’t we just watching this because there’s no way to get past the guards?” Hunk asked.

Pidge thought for a moment “Maybe we could get some hazmat suits and sneak in” he said with an almost too excited smile/smirk.

“Or we don’t do that, and instead sneak into the dorms, and maybe sneak into the commissary, little late night snack” Hunk suggested.

Pidge looked up at him with half lidded eyes “No” was the simple answer, before he went back to thinking of recue plans “Maybe if we made some kind of distraction that could lead them away and we could sneak in” he suggested.

As soon as Pidge finished, four explosions went off in the distance.

“Is that the aliens? Are they here? Is that the Aliens? They got here so quick” Hunk rambled, immediately beginning to freak out.

Pidge gasped “No, those explosions were a distraction, for him” he said, pointing at a craft coming in close “The garrison is going that way so he’s sneaking in the back” he finished.

Hunk looked through the binoculars and got a lot more worried.

“Oh you gotta be kidding me” he almost cried out.

“What? Who is it?” Pidge asked.

Hunk let out a groan “It’s Keith, who else?” he complained, handing the binoculars to Pidge.

But Pidge was already packing up his equipment.

“Don’t tell me we’re going down there” Hunk wined.

“I know I am, you can just stay here if you want” Pidge said, already starting to run down the hill.

Hunk looked back to the Garrison in the distance then to his friends, letting out a long sigh “Wait up!” he yelled, following Pidge.

By the time Pidge got inside, he was shocked to see Keith had knocked out all the staff and had already untied Shiro.

“What are you doing here?” Keith asked, practically scolded.

“Same as you, rescuing Shiro, right Hunk?” he said simply… realising that the person in question was no longer with him.

“Hunk!” Pidge yelled back down the hallway, Keith slowly walking Shiro towards him.

“Down here, you need to see this!” Hunk yelled back.

“You go, I gotta get him out of here, I’ll be out front” Keith said seriously.

Pidge nodded and ran down the short corridor Hunk’s voice came from.

“What are you doing? The Garrison could be back any moment” Pidge said as he ran down to meet Hunk.

Realising Hunk was staring at something, Pidge looked too, only to find that it was instead a someONE.

“Is that a?” Pidge trailed off.

“Uh hu” Hunk said, his mouth dry as a bone.

“-ευ… κουλδ υου δο με α φαυουρ ανδ οπεν θις καγε;” the alien in front of them asked.  
(Hey… could you do me a favour and open this cage?)

At first glance this boy would seem to be just a regular teenage boy, but his hair was pure white and his eats went into points, and on his cheeks, just below his eyes, were some kind of tattoo.

Neither teen knew what to do, for all they knew this guy just said he would kill them, or insulted them… possibly even flirted by the way he said it.

The alien boy sighed and pointed at the lock to the cage, to himself, then to outside the cage.

“I think he wants us to let him out” Pidge guessed.

“Are you sure that’s a good idea? He could be trying to trick us” Hunk reasoned.

“Yea… but if we leave him here then who knows what the Garrison will do to him” Pidge reasoned back.

Before the two could argue further, Keith yelled in from outside.

“Come on guys, they’re heading back, we need to leave NOW!” he yelled, clearly urgent.

Hunk looked down at Pidge before letting out another groan “Fine! But if he eats our brains then I’m blaming you” he said.

Pidge quickly took a screwdriver out and stabbed it into the electronic lock, short circuiting it.

“Now pull” Pidge said, thankful he wasn’t electrocuted.

Seeing what they were doing, the alien boy pushed on the bars as they pulled and but a moment later a loud clang sounded through the halls as the cell swung open.

“Guys!” Keith yelled, clearly antsy now.

“Coming!” Pidge yelled as he scrambled to his feet and began to run.

Hunk got up and pulled the alien to his feet, both running after the smallest of the group.

Outside, Keith was shocked at the new addition to the group “Who is that?” he asked, glancing back at the approaching Garrison.

“Alien, no time to explain, lets go” Hunk said as they all piled onto the hovercraft.

As soon as everyone was on, it became increasingly obvious that the bike was not made for this many passengers.

“Is this thing gonna be big enough for all of us” Pidge asked as he almost lost his balance.

“Doubtful” Keith grumbled before revving the engine.

Doing a quick 180, they shot off in the opposite direction, as fast as the bike would let them.

“How did I get stuck holding this guy?” Pidge complained.

The Alien looked back at the approaching vehicles.

“Καν'τ υου γο ανυ φαστερ;” he asked, starting to panic.  
(Can’t you go any faster?)

Keith just looked up at the boy confused then back at Pidge and Hunk “What did he just say?” he asked.

“No clue, watch where you’re driving!” Pidge yelled.

“Hunk! Lean left!” Keith ordered.

Hunk did just that as Keith turned, causing a very sharp turn, Pidge almost loosing his grip of Shiro.

As they did, two of the rovers collided.

“Oh man, Mr Harris just wiped out professor Montgomery” Hunk said, a little bit worried about them “Oh wait, no, he’s fine” he added.

“Hunk! Right!” Keith yelled before sending them to the right and over a large drop, to an off road on the other side, causing one of the rovers that followed to tumble into a barrel roll.

“Guys? I-is that a c-cliff up ah-head?” Hunk stammered.

Pidge and Hunk began to protest as the alien boy began screaming.

But Keith looked determined.

“Yup” was all he said before speeding up the bike and letting them fly right off the edge.

All three conscious passengers began to scream.

“Are you trying to kill us?!” Pidge screamed.

“Just shut up and trust me” Keith said as he prepared to bring the bike up.

Sure enough, at the seemingly last moment, Keith was able to bring the bike up enough to allow them to just continue along as if they didn’t just take a fifteen story drop.

The group kept riding further and further away from the Garrison until they reached a seemingly abandoned shack.

“What is this place?” Hunk asked.

“Home” Keith answered simply.

<^><^><^><^>

As Shiro stared out at the sunset, he couldn’t help but bring his attention to his arm… he was home, back on earth… but he went through hell just to get back.

Keith walked up to him with a sincere smile and rested a hand on his shoulder “It’s good to have you back Shiro” he said calmly.

Shiro let out a small chuckle, laced in worry “It’s good to be back” he said.

“So what happened out there? Where… where were you?” Keith asked as calmly as possible as to not make him feel pressured.

Shiro sighed “I wish I could tell you… whenever I try to think of it, it’s like there’s a wall in my mind that wont let me see… but from what I do know is that I was on an alien ship… and that boy was there, Lance, he helped me escape… but the rest is a blur” he explained before looking at Keith “How did you know to com save me when I crashed?” he asked.

“You should come see something” Keith explained as he began to walk back to the shack where the others were.

Inside, Keith revealed a board covered in maps, scenery pictures, radio signatures, and codes.

“What have you been working on?” Shiro asked, honestly impressed by what he was looking at.

“And when did you have the time to?” Hunk asked.

Keith let out the slightest of a laugh in the form of a huff to Hunk’s question “Lights out is the easiest time to sneak in and out of the Garrison” he said before turning back to the board “As for this, I can’t explain it really, but after you disappeared I was kinda lost and found myself coming out to this place a lot, as if some energy was pulling me here to search for something” Keith explained.

“For what?” Shiro asked.

“Well, I didn’t really know at the time… until I stumbled across this area” he said as he pointed at the map “It’s an outcropping of giant boulders with caves covered in these ancient markings, each tells a slightly different story about a blue lion, but they all share clues of some event, some arrival happening last night” he said before looking at Shiro “Then you showed up” he said.

“Umm… so did this guy” Pidge pointed out.

“You have a point” Keith admitted.

“I should thank you all for getting me out, Lance too” he said as he held out a hand to Pidge.

“I’m Pidge, the nervous guy’s Hunk” he informed as he shook Shiro’s hand “Did anyone else from your crew make it out?” he asked.

“I’m not sure… I remember the mission, finding Lance, being captured… and after that it’s just bits and pieces” Shiro explained.

“Yea, sorry to interrupt, but back to the aliens, where are they now? Are they coming? Are they coming for all of us? Like where are they at this very moment? And is he part of them?” Hunk asked, pointing at Lance.

“I can’t really remember much… but Lance helped me escape, and that they were looking for something called Voltron, I think it’s some kind of weapon, but whatever it is, we need to find it before they do” Shiro explained, giving Lance a reassuring nod.

Lance was just confused, he had no idea who these people where or what they were saying, but he was like Shiro in the sense that he could barely remember anything, just the torture the druids put him through and then waking up heavy to a person telling him to take Shiro and to fly away in a ship.

But one thing he knew for sure, Voltron was the one word he could recognise, and he was determined to get it before the Galra.

“Well, last night I was rummaging through Pidges stuff and I found this picture, look it’s his girlfriend” Hunk teased as he held up a photo of Pidge with a younger girl.

Pidge snatched it angry “Hey gimme that, what were you doing going through my stuff?” Pidge asked, clearly mad as he snatched his bag back too.

“Ah, well, I was looking for a candy bar, but then I started reading his diary” Hunk said, causing Pidge to freak out again and snatch that too “And I noticed that there’s a repeating series of numbers the aliens are searching for looks a lot like a Fraunhofer line” he explained.

“Frown who?” Keith asked.

“It’s a number describing the emission spectrum of an element, only this element doesn’t exist on earth, I thought it might be this Voltron, and I think I can build a machine to look for it, kinda like a Voltron Geiger counter” he explained.

“Amazing, that could actually work” Shiro mused.

“It’s pretty fascinating really, the wavelength looks like this” Hunk said as he held up the paper.

Suddenly, Lance, who had been relatively docile up until now, snatched the paper and rushed to the board, holding it up to one of the pictures Keith had of the scenery around the strange signature.

Revealing to almost perfectly match the shape of a large group of rock towers.

<^><^><^><^>

Sure enough, they ventured out and found the area where the rock towers were located.

As the five stood there, Pidge holding the machine Hunk had made while Hunk held the receiver, it began to beep.

“I’m getting a reading” he said as he began to move, dragging Pidge along.

As they wandered through the landscape, Lance began shifting around. Since he couldn’t wear the rags he was wearing when he crashed on earth with Shiro, Lance decided to lend him some of his dads old clothes, but the only thigs that seemed to fit was his dad’s old hoodie, a pair of geans, and some work boots, so keith ended up having to give him one of his spare shirts.

“Υγ-, θεσε κλοθες αρε σο υνκομφορταβλε, -οω το υου εαρθλινγς στανδ ιτ;” Lance questioned as Shiro let out a small chuckle.  
(Ugh, these clothes are so uncomfortable, how to you earthlings stand it?)

Keith, noticing the alien’s movement, leaned over to Shiro “What’s his deal?” he asked grumpily.

“Apparently he finds earth clothing uncomfortable” Shiro said with a chuckle.

“Wait, you can understand what he’s saying?” Keith asked, getting the attention of the whole group.

“Well yea, can’t you? He’s speaking English” Shiro said as if everyone had grown an extra head.

“Nope, he’s been speaking that alien speak this whole time” Pidge said calmly before being tugged slightly.

“Guys, this way!” Hunk said, having not been paying attention to them, before taking off into a light jog, stopping at a slight drop to a small area and the opening to a cave.

Inside, the cave was filled with carvings and paintings, the ones Keith was talking about earlier.

As the others talked amongst themselves, Lance wondered over to one of the carvings and reached over to it, the second his hand made contact with the wall, his cheek marks began to glow as the carving all lit up with a bluish green glow.

“They’ve never done that before” Keith mumbled.

With a loud clunk and then a sliding noise, the floor beneath their feet fell in and they fell into the darkness.


	3. The Reuinion

As they fell through the floor, they were immediately carried away by an underground stream, all of them screaming loudly as they flew down the hole with no idea where they were coming out.

With a rough landing, the five of them found themselves in another cave, in a puddle of water.

As they all regained their composure, they all came to stare in awe at the sight before them.

Standing far above their heights, was a large robotic lion, surrounded by some form of force field.

The five of them walked towards it and just stared.

“Is this it? Is this the Voltron?” Pidge asked.

“It… must be” Shiro said as he felt a strange pain in his head, like something was interfering with his thoughts.

“So this is what’s been causing all the crazy energy here” Keith mused before walking closer to it.

The others followed him closely, Lance in particular staring at it, feeling a strange sense of familiarity with it, he knew that Voltron was a dangerous and powerful weapon, but he doesn’t think he’d ever seen it in his life.

Keith reached the edge of the forcefield first and started inspecting it “Wonder how we get through this” he mumbled as he felt along the edges.

Looking to his right, he could see Lance approach and reach out for the forcefield.

He mumbled something before knocking on the forcefield twice.

On the second knock, the field pulsed and let off a small spark that swirled in the air, the whole thing disappearing.

As the ground shook, they all saw something in their heads.

The robot in front of them was there, but there were also four others like it, watching at they transformed and combined into a mighty robot of great power.

“Did anyone else just see that?” Keith asked, shaken.

“Voltron’s a robot! Voltron’s a huge, HUGE awesome robot” Hunk blabbered out frantically.

“And this thing is only one part of it” Pidge added “I wonder where the rest of them are?” he mused.

“This is what they’re looking for” Shiro said.

Suddenly, the mechanical beast began to move, lowering it’s head down towards them.

Everyone except Lance instinctively stepped back as it reached them, opening it’s mouth as a welcome.

Lance looked back to the earthlings before looking back at the robot and smirking, running inside without hesitation.

The others looked between each other before shrugging, running after him.

As soon as Lance got to the cockpit, he sat in the chair.

“Οκαυ… -οω δο Ι δο θις;” he mumbled to himself.  
(Okay… how do I do this?)

Suddenly, the chair shot forwards and several panels turned on.

“Woah” they all mused as they admired the interior and the ship’s system.

“Okay guys I-I feel the need to point out jus that we’re all, y’know aware, we are inside a futuristic alien cat head right now, currently controlled by an alien” Hunk said seriously.  
Suddenly, Lance felt someone talking to him.

“Διδ ονε οφ υου ηυστ σπεακ Αλτεαν το με;” he asked shocked.  
(Did one of you just speak Altean to me?)

“Νο, νονε οφ υς σαιδ ανυθινγ” Shiro replied.  
(No, none of us said anything)

Lance looked at him confused before looking back down.

“Ι-Ι θινκ ιτ'ς ταλκινγ το με” he said confused before leaning forward to investigate the controls.  
(I-I think it’s talking to me)

He looked them over before pressing a few buttons, causing the giant robotic cat to begin to move, letting out a roar.

Lance smirked.

“Οκαυ… νοω λετ'ς τρυ θισ” he said before the thrusted the controls forward confidently.  
(Okay… now let’s try this)

With a loud bang, the lion shot out of the ground souring in the air as Lance tried to fly, however found it a little difficult with his passengers clinging to him.

“You are! The worst! Pilot! EVER!” Keith yelled with a slight voice break.

Lance didn’t know what he said, but he knew that he should be insulted.

Lance responded with a glare before bringing the controls back and shoving them forwards, purposely swerving and spinning in the air just to annoy the grumpy guy.

As everyone else was either scared or shocked, Lance was smiling ear to ear, cooing and cheering as the lion ran along the ground.

Suddenly, the lion’s engines revved and they all shot into the air.

“Λανκε! Ω-ατ αρε υου δοινγ;!” Shiro yelled.  
(Lance! What are you doing?!)

“Ιτ σαυς θερές αν Αλιεν σ-ιπ αππροαχινγ, ιτ ωαντς υς το στοπ ιτ!” Lance yelled.  
(It says there’s an Alien ship approaching, it wants us to stop it!)

“What is he saying?” Keith yelled.

“He says the lion is talking to him, it says there’s an alien ship approaching” Shiro explained.

“Well if this thing’s the weapon they’re coming for, why don’t we just like, I dunno, give it to them? Maybe they’ll leave us alone?” Hunk said before turning to the control board “Sorry lion, nothing personal” he added frantically.

“You don’t understand, these monsters spread like a plague throughout the galaxy, destroying everything in their path, there’s no bargaining with them, they won’t stop until everything is dead” Shiro seriously explained.

“Oh… never mind then” Hunk said awkwardly.

As they flew up further and further, they quickly found themselves in space, staring down a ship that was all too familiar to two of the lion’s inhabitants.  
They all stared at the ship with open mouths.

“Holy crow guys, is that really an alien ship?” Hunk asked.

“They found us” Shiro mumbled as he stared on in fear at the approaching Galra ship.

Despite his shaking hands, Lance managed to keep his composure, able to manoeuvre the lion expertly as the Galra began firing at them.

“What is he doing?” Hunk said as he clung to Lance’s chair in a attempt to not be thrown around the cockpit.

Scanning over the ship, Lance found himself a target, moving to a favourable position, he threw the left control down and a large laser fired from the lion’s mouth, slicing across the Galra ship, blowing up several of the ship’s guns.

With a confident smirk over his success, Lance sped the lion towards the ship, scratching up the side, successfully slicing apart crucial wires, causing more explosions.  
Shiro pat Lance’s shoulder “Νικε ηοβ Λανκε” he complimented.  
(Nice job Lance)

“Νοω ωε ηυστ νεεδ το λυρε θεμ αωαυ φρομ υουρ πλανετ” Lance said calmly before taking off into space.  
(Now we just have to lure them away from your planet)

As soon as they took off, the ship took chase.

“Oh no! They’re following us!” Hunk yelled.

“But why aren’t they shooting?” Pidge yelled.

“They’re only following us” Keith said oddly calmly.

“Wait, now we think aliens following us is a good thing? I am not on board with this new direction guys” Hunk said worried.

“Where are we?” Keith asked as he looked out to their surroundings.

“Edge of the solar system, there’s Kerberos” Shiro informed.

“It takes months for our ships to get out this far… we got out here in seconds” Pidge said, shocked but also very impressed.

Suddenly, a strange glowing circle appeared before them, the centre a swirling void of warping space.

“Uh, what is that?” Hunk asked.

Lance’s eyes glimmered in joy before looking at Shiro “Ι κνοω θις, μυ πεοπλε υσεδ το υσε θεσε το τραυελ ακροσς σπακε” he said excitedly, but there was an air of uncertainty to just fly through it.  
(I know this, my people used to use these to travel across space)

“What did he say?” Hunk asked.

“He knows what that is… he seems confident that we should go through, but I think he’s waiting for everyone’s permission before he goes through” Shiro informed, noticing Lance’s hesitation to fly into it, obviously awaiting the go ahead from Shiro.

Hunk looked back “If it means getting away from them, I’m all for it” he said seriously.

Keith simply gave Lance an affirming nod, and Pidge placed a hand on Lance’s forearm and copied Keith’s nod.

“Ωε τρυστ υου Λανκε, ω-ατευερ υου ωαντ το δο, ωέρε ρεαδυ το φολλοω θρουγ- ωιθ ιτ” Shiro said as he placed a hand on Lance’s shoulder.  
(We trust you Lance, whatever you want to do, we’re ready to follow through with it)

Lance let out a breath before nodding and sending them soaring through the wormhole.

The entire lion violently shook before they came out the other end.

Hunk reacting by unloading his stomach “Sorry” he said before more came up.

“I’m just surprised it took this long” Pidge said as Lance looked away in disgust and discomfort.

“I don’t recognise any of these constellations… we must be a long, long way from earth” Shiro said shocked.

As they all looked at Lance, they were shocked to see that he had tears in his eyes.

“Λανκε; Ω-ατ'ς ωρονγ” Shiro asked.  
(Lance? What’s wrong)

“Ι… Ι θινκ θις ις μυ -ομε” Lance said as a tear streamed down his face.  
(I… I think this is my home)

Before any of the others could ask what he has said, he sped towards the planet, letting the lion navigate him down to it’s surface and to the front steps of a large castle.

As they landed, the castle and the lion seemed to have some kind of connection.

They all just stared at the area in front of them.

“Keep your guard up” Shiro warned.

“Is there something wrong?” Pidge asked.

“My crew was captured once, I’m not gonna let it happen again, so make sure you all stay within visual contact” he instructed.

However, as soon as they got out of the lion, Lance ran right for the front door.

“I think you forgot to tell him” Pidge whispered to Shiro.

As soon as Lance reached the front doors, his cheek marks began to glow again as the ground began to shake.

“Ah! what is happening?!” Hunk yelled as he clung to Shiro for protection.

The door glowed and rumbled open at Lance’s touch, the lion roaring in unison.

“Oh look, the doors open” Hunk said, still paranoid.

Lance looked at the dark inner hall of the castle and a wave of emotion ran over him before he took off in a sprint.

“He’s sure in a hurry” Pidge said before they all ran after him.

As they ran inside, an aqua coloured light beamed down on them.

“-ολδ φορ ιδεντιφικατιον” a robotic voice said before it scanned them all.  
(Hold for identification)

“Πλεασε, ωέρε -ερε ιν πεακε, ωε δον'τ κνοω ω-ατ'ς γοινγ ον” Shiro tried to reason.  
(Please, we’re here in peace, we don’t know what’s going on)

The scan finished and made a strange noise before saying “Ωελκομε -ομε πρινκε Λανκε” before the light flashed green for a second before going back to aqua.  
(Welcome home prince Lance)

“Wait, prince?” Shiro asked before Lance sprinted off again.

“Why does he keep doing that?” Pidge asked as they once again ran off after him.

They sprinted ran after him, losing him on occasion before seeing him run back into view from a random hallway or room.

“What is he looking for?” Hunk asked as he and Pidge were using each other to lean on.

“Come on” Keith said as he followed him, the other three following, albeit two of them a little slowly.

Eventually, they found themselves in a large open circular room with floor to ceiling pillars and a step down to reach the centre of the room where a panel rested.

“What is this place?” Keith mumbled.

“It looks like… some kind of control room” Pidge said as the panel lit up when Lance walked past.

A beeping noise sounded as two tubes began to rise out of the ground, shadowed figures standing within.

“Are these guys… dead?” Hunk asked.

Lance looked on with a look of fear and hope and the fronts of the tubes dissolved to show the people within.

The man looked to be in his late 30s or early 40s with had red hair in a slicked back style and a glorious moustache with similar cheek marks as lance.

The woman on the other hand appeared to be around their age with long white hair and the same cheek marks Lance had.

The woman suddenly awoke “Φαθερ” she called as she reached forwards, falling.  
(Father)

Lance rushed forwards and caught her, holding her gently as he looked down at her lovingly.

The woman looked up at him confused.

“Αλλυρα” Lance breathed in relief.  
(Allura)

She looked up at him in a daze “Ω-ο αρε υου; Ω-ερε αμ Ι;” she asked.  
(Who are you? Where am I?)

Lance looked down at her with a worried glance “Αλλυρα… ιτ'ς με… Λανκε” he said in a pained voice.  
(Allura… it’s me… Lance)

The girl looked up at him shocked “Λανκε;” she asked shocked.  
(Lance?)

Lance smiled “Υεα, ιτ'ς Λανκε” he said with a smile.  
(Yea, it’s Lance)

Suddenly, she frowned and kicked his knee, tripping him and twisting his arm, shoving him to the ground.

“Δον'τ ευεν τρυ τρικκινγ με, Λανκε ις ονλυ α χιλδ, νοω τελλ με ω-ερε ις Κινγ Αλφορ;!” she demanded.  
(Don’t even try tricking me, Lance is only a child, now tell me where is King Alfor?!)

“Αλλυρα πλεασε! Ιτ'ς με! Λανκε! Ανδ Ι καν προυε ιτ!” He pleaded.  
(Allura please! It’s me! Lance! And I can prove it!)

“What is happening?” Hunk asked Shiro who just looked on in utter confusion.

“Ι ευεν βρουγ-τ θε βλυε λιον -ερε!” Lance yelled.  
(I even brought the blue lion here!)

“Υου -αυε θε βλυε λιον; -οω; Ω-ατ -αππενεδ το ιτ'ς παλαδιν;” she demanded to the other strangers in the room.  
(You have the blue lion? How? What happened to its paladin?)

The earthlings looked at her with questioning looks, only one of them having the faintest clue what she said.

“Ονλυ θε γυυ ωιθ ροβοτ παρτς καν υνδερστανδ υου” Lance winced out in pain.  
(Only the guy with robot parts can understand you)

The girl rolled her eyes and called out for the castle’s system control “Ακτιυατε υνιυερσαλ τρανσλατορ!” she called out.  
(Activate universal translator!)

“Activating universal translator” the robot voice said as a screen popped up on the console in the middle of the room.

A scanner ran over them and began showing English words on the screen.

~Hello,  
~This is the castle main translator, here to assist you with your communication needs.  
~Anything said from here on out shall appear in text form for your convenience

“Now, tell me who you are and what you’re all doing here” she demanded.

She then paused and thought for a moment before asking “How long has it been?” as she glanced at Lance, still unsure of his identity.

“We don’t know what you’re talking about, why don’t you tell us who you are? maybe we can help” Shiro suggested.

She looked at him unsure before turning serious “I am princess Allura of planet Altea, I’ve got to find out where we are, and how long we’ve been asleep” she said as she rested her hands on the console, a secondary screen showing up.

“Okay… that’s how that works” Pidge said both intrigued and confused.

The other man suddenly awoke, freaking out and yelling “Enemy combatants! As he jumped at Lance, who just lazily moved to the side with minimal effort.

“Quiznack, you’re lucky I have a case of the old sleep chamber knees otherwise I’d grab your head like this, wrap you up like so and one two three sleepy time” he said confidently, not a single person in the room intimidated.

“And before you’d do that I’d wha ha hya, like that” Lance said back humorously as he made ridiculous chops at the air and finishing with a poorly performed high kick.

“Really? Well how could you do that when I’ve already come at you like this? Ha ha ha hey!” he said with strange hand jab movements.

“Man these guys are… weird” Hunk said awkwardly.

“It can’t be” Allura suddenly said.

“What is it?” the man asked.

“We’ve been asleep for over ten thousand years” she said seriously as a wave of shock shook her.

Memories of the dad she was put into the sleep chamber running through her head.

<^><^><^><^>

“Father, we must form Voltron and fight before it’s too late” Allura said to her father as Zarkon rained down heavy fire onto the castle.

“It’s already too late, we have already sent the lions away, we can’t risk them falling into Zarkon’s hands” Alfor said seriously.

“We can’t give up hope! What about Lance? You sent him with the red lion! He’s only in more danger!” she yelled, worried.

“I’m sorry daughter, If all goes well, I will see you and Lance again soon” he said before enacting a sleeping spell.

“Father” she called out as she tried her hardest to resist the spell.

“I love you” were the last things she heard before blacking out.

<^><^><^><^>

“Planet Altea, and all of the planets in our solar system, have been destroyed, father is gone, out entire civilisation” she said sadly before her gaze turned angry “Zarkon” she hissed, triggering something inside Shiro’s memories.

“Zarkon?” he questioned.

“He was the king of the Galra, a vile creature, and enemy to all free people” Allura practically spat.

“I remember now, I was his prisoner, so was Lance” Shiro informed.

“He’s still alive? Impossible” she denied.

“I can’t explain it but it’s true, he’s searching for a super weapon called Voltron” Shiro said.

“He’s searching for it because he knows it’s the only thing that can defeat him, and that’s exactly why we must find it before he does” she said seriously before turning to Lance.

“Now... how do you lay into this? Are you a spy? Is this a hologram?” she asked as she almost violently poked and pulled at Lance’s features.

“Hey! How many times do I have you tell you? It’s me! Lance!” he yelled getting rather annoyed now.

“That’s impossible, Lance was just a child when father sent him away with the ship carrying the red lion, if you really here Lance then you’d either be dead or incredibly old” she said with a vicious tone, insulted that this person would actually try to pretend to be a member of the royal family.

“I grew up, but then we were attacked and I was forced to flee, I crashed on some ice planet and then Shiro found me when he arrived there with a research team” Lance explained as Allura continued to lift his arms, turn his head in every which direction, patting down his clothes.

“Oh and you just happened to not age while in this sleep?” she asked sceptically.

Lance didn’t know how to answer, he didn’t know the answer, it just kinda… happened.

The man looked over lance sceptically.

“Now that I’m getting a good look at you, you do seem to resemble King Alfor in his youth a little” he said as he inspected Lance’s face.

Pidge leaned up to Hunk “Do you have any clue what’s going on?” he whispered.

“Beats me” Hunk admitted as they both just looked on as the two aliens continued to inspect the youngest seeming of the group.

Lance’s eyes lit up when he remembered something “Hey, your name’s Coran right, you used to read to me every night when I was a kid, and then you would tech me about astrology” he said excitedly as the man looked at him curiously.

“Anyone could know that information” Allura said sceptically as she stood next to Coran.

Lance thought for a moment before smiling “I know how I can convince you” he said as he began to remove his jacket and pull the shirt up.

“What are you doing in front of the princess?” Coran scolded as he shielded Allura’s gaze from him, the earthlings just watching with intrigue at this point to see how things will turn out.

“See? This is the scar I got falling down during my first ever battle training” he said, showing a thin but long scar on his upper back.

Allura looked at it sceptically before looking back at his as if to say, ‘so what?’.

Lance rolled his eyes and pulled his shirt back down.

“You had taken a day off your own training just to watch me in case I got hurt, and when I did, you rushed over to me and helped me stand back up, you brushed your thumb across my cheek to hide my tears from the others and said ‘It’s okay to fail, because to fail” he started before Allura joined in “means you tried” they finished together.

“I’ve never told anyone that story before” Allura said as she stared at Lance, a hand reaching up to his face “Lance?” she asked.

“Finally you recognise me” he said with a chuckle.

“You… you’re so much older now…” she said with a saddened smile “Suppose I can’t call you my mini warrior anymore” she joked before the two went in for a hug.

“That, is so sweet” Hunk said as he and Pidge apparently got a little too into the moment, currently fighting back the tears.

“You look like you’re about to cry” Keith commented to the two of them.

“It’s just such a sweet family reunion” Hunk said as Pidge just nodded.

“You gotta be kidding me” Keith mumbled before looking over to Shiro for reassurance, only to see him wipe away a tear from his human eye "Really?" Keith mumbled.


	4. The Lions

Allura turned to the group, still hugging her younger brother, and smiled.

“Thank you for bringing him back to me, you have no idea what this means” she said as she let go of Lance.

“Well, if anything he brought us here” Pidge said with a slight smirk.

“Rightio, would either of you like anything to eat? The princess and I have been asleep for ten thousand years after all, and I’m sure prince Lance would enjoy some good old Altean cooking” Coran offered with a jovial attitude.

Lance’s face turned confused “Wait… ten thousand years? That’s like… ten thousand plus ten” he said as he wondered how long he too would have been trapped under the ice.

“It’s ten thousand times ten” Keith corrected.

Lance turned to send the earthing a slight glare, only to get one back from the mulleted teen.

“I haven’t eaten anything since breakfast and I’m starving” Hunk said as he held his stomach.

“Yea but you’ve thrown up like five times” Pidge commented blankly.

“Hmm, good point” Hunk mumbled.

“What I can’t believe is that your civilisation had created such advanced technology ten thousand years ago… it must have been an incredible place” Shiro commented with a kind smile.

“Yes… it was… but now it is gone, and it appears that the three of us are the only Alteans alive” Koran said as he looked to the royal siblings, both looking down sadly as the reality of those words began to settle in.

As Allura hugged Coran for comfort, Lance just stayed where he was, staring at the ground. He wasn’t necessarily sad at Coran’s words, unlike his sister and former babysitter, Lance had many years to process the loss of his people, but Allura was only just finding out. He felt pain at seeing her grief.

Suddenly, Allura’s ears wiggled and she let go of Coran, rushing back to her sleep pod, peering in to see four little mice all huddled together.

“Hello little ones” she said kindly.

Just as she was about to reach out a hand for them to climb up on to, the console in the centre of the room turned red and began to make an alarming buzzing noise.

“A Galra battleship has set its tracker to us” Coran announced.

A picture of a ship travelling in space showing up on the small screen.

“How did they find us?” Allura asked.

“I’m not sure, maybe one of the earthlings know” Lance said as he glanced at Keith.

“Say whatever you gotta say to make yourself feel better your highness” Keith said rather patronisingly “After you fired at them and encouraged them to follow us” Keith accused.

Lance, having to glance at the screen to know what Keith had just said, turned to him a little angrily.

“They were firing at us! Was I supposed to just fly away and get us caught?!” Lance yelled back.

Keith glancing at the screen… man arguing was hard with a language barrier.

“Alright, cut it out you two, this is no time to argue, we have to work as a team” Shiro said seriously.

He turned to Coran “How long before they arrive?” he asked.

“At their speed? Ah well… carry the two and uh, um, I’d say a couple of days” Coran informed.

“Good let them come” Allura said seriously, “By the time they reach this planet, you five will have gathered the remaining lions and form Voltron, then together we will work together and take down Zarkon’s empire” she announced.

“Princess, there are five of these lions, how are we going to find the rest?” Shiro asked seriously.

Allura and Coran shared a look.

“Follow me” she said before picking up the top of the console in front of them and walked out the door, into the twisting halls of the castle.

<^><^><^><^>

As they reached a large open space, Keith noticed Lance looking around with just as much wonder and amazement as Pidge and Hunk were, as if he’d never actually seen this part of the castle before.

Allura stepped up onto a podium as a blue light shone down on her like a spotlight.

“King Alfor connected the lions to Allura’s lifeforce, she alone is the key to the lion’s whereabouts” Coran said.

“What about this guy? Isn’t he the prince?” Hunk asked as Lance just looked away.

“Yes, the king wished to do the same with Prince Lance, however he was too young at the time… the same can surely not be said now” Coran informed.

The light above Allura flickered slightly before dots radiated out from her and filled the room, settling in place to show stars, planets and co-ordinates.

“Hang on, the black lion looks like it’s in the same location as the blue lion” Pidge mumbled aloud as a small planet passed by them with pictures of the lions attached to it.

“Look at your primitive synapsis firing away in that little brain cage” Coran said rather jovial as Pidge just looked at him annoyed.

“Yes, very observant, that’s because the black lion is in the castle” Allura informed.

“To keep the black lion out of Zarkon’s hands, King Alfor locked it in the castle and can only be freed if the other four lions are present” Coran said.

“As you have found, the lions choose their pilots, it is a mystical bond and cannot be forced, the quintessence of the pilot is mirrored in his lion, together they form something greater than science can explain” Allura said before she reached up and turned the map to place the black lion in front of Shiro “The black lion is the definitive head of the lions, it will take a pilot who is a born leader, and in control at all times, someone who’s men will follow without hesitation, that is why you, Shiro, will pilot the black lion” she informed.

With a wave of her hand, the map around them moved again.

“The green lion has an inquisitive personality, and therefore needs a pilot of intellect and daring, so Pidge, you will pilot the green lion” she said as Pidge just smiled at the hologram before them.

“The blue lion” she started.

“No need to explain, I’ve already piloted her, she’s all good with me” Lance said with a proud smile that was returned by his older sister.

“Right… the yellow lion” she said before waving her hand once again, “Is caring and kind, it’s pilot is one who puts the needs of others before his own, his heart must be mighty, as the leg of Voltron, you will lift the team up and hold them together Hunk, I know you can do it” she said as Hunk liked rather unsure of himself.

“As for the red lion, it can be temperamental and the most difficult to master, it’s faster and more agile than the others, but also more unstable, it’s pilot needs to be someone who relies more on instinct than skill alone, Keith, you will fly the red lion” Allura said as Keith just smirked smugly.

“You sure about this sis?” Lance mumbled, getting a slight glare from Keith again.

“Unfortunately, I am unable to locate the red lion as of this moment, my hope is that it’s just an issue with the castle that we can fix, after all, ten thousand years without maintenance does call for some concern” Allura informed.

“Not to worry princess, I’ll find whatever is wrong and fix it with ease, they don’t call me the Coranic for nothing… because it sounds like mechanic… Coranic… mechanic, it’s not… it doesn’t sound exactly like it… its similar” Coran stumbled, just getting unimpressed looks all round.

Suddenly, the holograms of the lions began to move, coming together.

“Once all the lions are united, you will form Voltron, the most powerful warrior even known, the defender of the universe” Allura said as the holograms began to fade, the windows now allowing light to pass through them.

“I forgot how cool it looked” Lance mumbled.

“Wait… so we’re gonna be in there and flying lions, got that part, how do lions turn into legs, also is this gonna be a long trip? Cause I have to pee. Do you people even go to the bathroom?” Hunk rambled.

“We don’t have much time, Pidge and I will go after the green lion. Lance, you take Hunk and get the yellow one. Keith, you stay here, if you locate that red lion, go get it” Shiro ordered before placing a reassuring hand on Keith’s shoulder.

“In the meantime, I’ll get the castle’s defences ready, they’ll be sorely needed” Allura said.

“I’ll ready a pod, and load in the co-ordinates so you can reach the green lion” Coran said.

Just as everyone was about to leave to get ready for their trips, Pidge suddenly spoke up.

“Wait, Hunk, before you go, I think I have something that can help you a little” he said.

Hunk and everyone else looked down at Pidge a little curious as he began digging through his pockets, eventually pulling out an odd looking earpiece.

“This is an auditory translator I’ve been working on, all I need to do is download some kind of Altean language code into it and you should at least be able to understand Lance while you’re together” Pidge said, surprising those around them.

“Wait, so whatever he says I can understand it?” Hunk asks.

“Hopefully” Pidge said before looking to Allura “Would this castle have some kind of language or knowledge center that I could access?” Pidge asked the princess.

Allura looked to Coran “Could you help him with that?” she asked.

“Well of course princess” Coran said taking the small device from Pidge.

One download later, Hunk was equipped with the ability to understand but not speak… still better than no communication at all.

As Hunk and Lance left the room, Shiro looked down at Pidge.

“Why did you just have one of those with you? How’d you even get it?” he asked.

“I told you, I made it, as for why… there are a lot of good anime and Korean series that you can’t find subtitles for” Pidge said a little embarrassed.

<^><^><^><^>

While the most enthralling parts of Shiro and Pidge’s search for the green lion so far was Pidge being scared and climbing Shiro like a koala followed by a relaxing drift down a river, the same could not be said for Lance and Hunk, who, as soon as they arrived at their location, were being fired upon by galra ships.

“I thought Coran said these planets were peaceful?!” Hunk called out.

“Still have no idea what you’re saying man” Lance said as he manoeuvred blue, barely able to dodge an incoming missile.

Hunk grumbled and put the translator to Lance’s ear, hoping this would work.

“According to what Coran said, we should be right on top of the yellow lion, right in those ore tunnels, they don’t even know it’s there, or maybe they just got here?” he panicked.

“Ω-ο καρες ηυστ γο γετ ιτ!” Lance yelled.  
(Who cares just go get it!)

“What?!” Hunk yelled.

Lance grumbled and gave him the translator.

“I’m dropping you down there” Lance said seriously.

“Me? Down there? No no no no no” Hunk said as he panicked.

“Sorry, I can’t understand you” Lance said with a smirk before sending blue into a nosedive towards the planet.

As Hunk continued to ramble, Lance opened up a screen on the lion’s control panel.

“Really sorry about this, but there’s so time for this” Lance said before pressing the passenger eject button, causing Hunk to go flying out of blue’s mouth and towards the cave.

“Ah… now I can relax” Lance mumbled before going back out to fight more enemies.

“Oh yea, sure, just drop me off on an alien planet, that’s cool man, it’s only occupied by mean purple aliens that wanna kill me but whatever, just gonna ignore every weird thing that’s happened and go connect with a big yellow mechanical space cat, easy peasy, yea that all makes a pound of sense to me” he rambled spitefully as he tried and succeeded in hotwiring an alien elevator.

As the elevator began to move down the mineshaft, symbols on the walls, similar to the ones in the caves the blue lion was found in, began to glow a radiant yellow.

As he reached the bottom, he began to look around.

“Okay… I’m in a giant hole… now what?” he asked himself.

He was about to walk down an open mineshaft when more symbols appeared and began to glow behind him.

“Whoa, pretty” he mumbled as he noticed one looked a lot like the space portal they had travelled through earlier.

“Now how will I get through that?” he questioned, feeling like that was the hint he was being given.

Looking around, Hunk found his answer, a ride on mining drill.

<^><^><^><^>

Above ground, Lance wasn’t doing so great.

He had been able to take out a few enemy crafts, but it was almost like for every ship he took down, another came to replace it.

While Blue’s tech was very similar to ships he had flown in the past, he was still rather inexperienced in live fire situations.

Despite this, he was actually doing rather well, sure he was getting by barely able to dodge some attacks, but at least he could say that he had yet to be hit by anything.

Everything seemed relatively under control, that is, until a rouge missile flew right into the opening of the mine shaft effectively blocking any entry or escape.

“Hunk no!" Lance yelled in a panic, flashes of watching his shipmates falling or going to never be seen again rushing through his mind as he began to sweat and a wave of nausea fell over him.

<^><^><^><^>

Meanwhile with Pigde and Shiro.

“I know the princess said this is supposed to be my lion, but what if she’s wrong? I mean, she’s probably not wrong, she’s a princess. But I’m not a pilot, even though I’ve… always wanted to be a pilot. I mean, I read all the fighter manuals but I never got to fly the simulator. But hey, I can’t be much worse than Keith, he’s always wrecking the simulator with risky tricks and daredevil stunts. But what if I get in there and it doesn’t respond? What if I get in there and it’s too big and my feet don’t touch the pedals? WHAT IF THERE ARENT EVEN PEDALS?!” Pidge blabbed out as they had a mini panic attack.

“You’re rambling” Shiro said amused, causing Pidge to shrink into themselves.

“Listen, out commander on the Kerberos mission is the smartest person I’ve ever met, and he always said ‘if you get too worried about what could go wrong, you might miss a chance to do something great’” he said, not noticing the slight shock Pidge showed at those words.

Soon after, the river came to an end, before them a large temple covered in vines.

As they approached, glowing green symbols began to appear on the ground leading up the stairs and disappearing behind the cluster of vines both large and small.

“Go, be great” Shiro said with a kind smile.

Pidge looked up a little hesitant before giving a cheeky smile and running up the stairs, effortlessly making their way to the top.

As they sat atop the large group of vines, Pidge caught  their breath and… nothing.

Just silence.

For a split second, Pidge felt as though all their fears were confirmed, that they really weren’t meant to be the green lions pilot.

But almost as soon as Pidge was about to start climbing down, a growl came from beneath them before a green light began to glow from inside the mass of vines.

Pidge’s cheeky grin returned and without a second through, jumped down to officially meet their lion.

The two of them emerging seconds later in all their glory as Shiro watched on from the ground, a rush of pride filling him.


End file.
